Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-01-29
God bless you, sir gasped the aston

, 4 request Win winch he lUSl no tline III
complying. The interview was brief, and
conceded all he wished The firm was will
| ing 10 grant him the advance he required
upon the receipt Of the duplicate bills Of
| lading from Alexandria, which they now
awaited.
Mr.. Johnson took his leave, and repaired
to his office, where he told one of bis
clerks, in preoccupied tone, to address an
envelope to Messrs. Levi & Co. He subse-
quently placed in this envelope the forged
bill of lading, and sealed il up. Then he
wrote long, gossipy letter to q friend in
Alexandria-an easy-going, head-in-the
clouds " kind of fellow who would sus-
pect nothing-and in a postscript asked
him, as special favor, to post the inclosed
letter for him in Alexandria on the day
when the ship Estrella was cleared -
Having dispatched this letter, he strolled
along Castle street. and gave orders at a
certain shop where be was not in the habit
of dealing for small iron-bound box to
be made and sent to his rooms, with as lit
| tie delay as possible.
Three weeks later Mr.. Johnson was again
in Messrs. Levi & Co.'S office. The bill of
lading had been received, and, all prelimi-
naries having been satisfactorily arranged,
and the necessary documents as to interest
| having been duly signed, Mr.. Levi drew
| his check book toward him and signed a
check for go 600.
And | trust, Mr.. Johnson" he said
pompously, as be tore OIL the precious slip,
that though it is our first transaction it
may not be our last
"Our last p repeated the echo in the
corner.
Mr.. Johnson bowed with grace; but as he
| took the paper from Mr.. Lewis hand, that
gentleman might have noticed that John
sons hands shook.
The Estrella was signaied in due course,
and Messrs. Levi e Co dispatched clerk
to the docks for the ships papers.
| The Captain was on deck as the clerk
who, by the way, was named Davis
crossed the gangway.
Good morning Captain Marsh he
said pleasantly.
Good morning. returned the Captain
GRIZZLY.
Had fine passage ?" pursued Davis.
! Middling. Roughish in the bay
Rather Il heavyscargo this time, haven't
you?"
No, lighter than usual, was the reply.
But" said Davis, with an air of sur
prise, you We got two thousand bales of
| cotton on board from Pinero & Co."
Haven't bale of cotton on board re-
turned the other. briefly.
What ~ said the astonished clerk
Are you sure?"
Sure? OF course I'm sure answered
know if don't?"
Well, may Just go back again, said
Davis
You'd better" observed Captain Marsh,
griuly; you'll not find what you're look
| ing for here
Davis made his way back to his employ
ers office, and with considerable trepidation
informed them of the non arrival of the
expected cargo. Doirell turned pale and
Levi became perfectly green.
There must be some mistake said the
| former hurriedly.
! don't know, I'm sure, sir, stammered
the clerk.
Don't know, you idiotr roared Mr.
Levi. Who expected you to know
Leave the room ~
a hurried telegram was dispatched to
| the agents in Alexandria, and in the course
of few hours the terse answer was flashed
back:
No such consignment dispatched to
you. Some mistake"
The partners looked at each other
aghast.
Holy Abraham ~ gasped Mr.. Levi.
Good Heavens !" calculated Mr.. Dor
rell.
Good Heavens !" echoed the Co.
In five minutes Mr.. Levi was driving
furiously up 10 the Exchange Court, where,
it is needless to say, he did not find Mr.
Johnson. Nor did he find any one else
connected with the firm. The door leading
into the offices was locked and card
neatly tackled thereon bearing the inscrip-
| ton:
"On the Continent for an indefinite
timen
Upon reading this announcement Mr.
Levi burst into the next office with such
sudden violence that the clerks jumped
from their stools in dismay. Here he
learned, in answer to his almost inarticu-
late inquiries, that the offices of johnson
& Co. had been closed for rather more than
a week
Upon arriving again in James street. Mr.
Levi was in state of agonized rage and
excitement battling description. He was a
singularly choleric old gentleman, and
threw himself into chair, tlinging his hat
upon the ground.
We've been swindled ~ he almost
shouted excitedly. Swindled r.
Swindled ~ echoed the " Co" family.
| Mr. Dorrell sat for a few minutes pale
buL III III LIS vi wv VI llipl c
| partners there is usually one who talks and
one who acts. and in this firm Mr.. Dorrell
was always the one who acted.
| We had better send for Bolton. he said
at last, and Bolton, the celebrated detec-
| tive, was sent for. Bolton said little, but
| listened gravely and respectfully TO Mr.
! Dorrells calm statements, and with SEEM
| ing sympathy to Mr.. Lewis incoherent raw
! ings. Mr.. Skimp meekly ventured the re-
mark that he hadn't thought much OF
Johnson from the FIRST" Which irritating
remark was repaid by the senior partner
with whitening glance at Skimp which
caused that worthy 10 subside al once into
| his corner.
most carefully examined by Bolton. The
detective-afIer the manner of his kind
looked inscrutable and said very little.
The affair was placed entirely in bis
| hands, and after some days inquiry the
firm of Levi IL Co. found that they had been
very successfully swindled, all the docr-
ments being iorgeries. Mr.. Lewis check
had been cashed on the day it was received
all in Bank Of England notes, none OF
which had been passed or changed in Liver
pool The inference was that Mr.. Johnson
| had taken them with him to London with
| the intention of changing them into gold
! Il was for this purpose, MIR. Bolton said,
that the previously mentioned iron-bound
! box had been ordered by the thoughtful
] and accomplished Mr. Johnson twenty
thousand pounds in gold being, as the de.
tectiye dryly remarked, rather an awkward
I sum to carry on the person.. 1t was also
ascertained that Mr.. Johnson had left his
rooms more than a week ago, at late hour
in the evening, and that gentleman an
swering his description had on that same
evening taken the night express for Lon
don. Upon hearing these details Mr. Levi
delivered himself OF some fine Hebrew ex-
pletiyes.
But how" said Mr.. Dorrell, " did he
get Pineros signature to copy p
"a simple matter replied the detective
He had had some small shipping trans
actions with Pinero & Co. before, which
enabled him TO possess himself of one or
two of their forms of bills of lading
This plot was not Matched in a few days.
The scoundrel p stormed Mr. Levi
with several strong and effective adjectives
-" III trace him, I'll hunt him down, if
spend every penny | have in the world
Find him, Bolton, and I'll make youI
fortune"
Mr.. Bolton did his best and ii wss usu.
ally very good best He traced him
first to London, then to Paris, then to Irun
and thus across the Spanish frontier, be-
vond which it was of course useless to fol-
low him. The celebrated detective there.
fore returned to Liverpool bafiied and con-